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'Prince Caspian' is a rousing return to Narnia

"Things never happen the same way twice," the great lion Aslan gravely notes in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN. Well, not exactly. In the follow-up to the enormously successful THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, director Andrew Adamson and his fellow filmmakers haven't exactly overhauled their game plan.

Again, they've adhered fairly faithfully to C.S. Lewis' original novel while enhancing the plot with gentle humor, a few extra dashes of psychological complexity and enough suspense to keep even the rowdiest kids riveted to the screen.

In terms of style and pacing, CASPIAN is actually a step up from WARDROBE. In his second trip to Narnia, Adamson is more comfortable integrating actors with state-of-the-art visual effects and, if his screenplay (co-written with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely) is a bit overlong, at least it moves along swiftly.

Credit should also go to fight choreographer and stunt coordinator Allan Poppleman, who has staged the movie's numerous swordfights and attacks with both gusto and clarity. Even in the heat of the fight, you can always tell who is doing what. That's something that can't be said of many other recent action films.

CASPIAN sends the four Pevensie kids -- Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) -- on a return trip to Narnia and, while they're happy to get away from World War II-ravaged London, they're not thrilled to discover the kingdom is in chaos.

They'll soon learn that 1,300 years have elapsed since their last visit and Narnia has since been conquered by the Telmarines, led by the tyrant Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), who wants to dispose of his nephew, Caspian (Ben Barnes), the rightful ruler.

In addition to Caspian, played with vigor by Barnes, the movie also introduces a couple of other endearing characters: the wary, resourceful dwarf Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage) and the feisty warrior Reepicheep, a sword-swinging mouse who uses his diminutive size as an advantage.

CASPIAN is not a sequel that easily stands on its own, however. Those who do not know WARDROBE will be baffled by the film's frequent references to previous events and characters and they won't appreciate the full eeriness of the reappearance of the seductive White Witch (Tilda Swinton), called back by a vulture-faced enchantress and a snarling werewolf.

While WARDROBE focused on Edmund's crisis of confidence as he was tempted by the White Witch, CASPIAN turns its attention to Peter, who thinks of himself as a leader and isn't particularly open to listening to others or sharing power. The story emphasizes the idea that courage without wisdom or foresight can quickly turn into the most dangerous sort of vanity, as Peter -- in an episode that's not in the book -- makes a hasty decision that places everyone in harm's way.

Lewis' message about the importance of faith is also preserved, as Lucy has visions of the long-lost savior Aslan and tries to convince her older siblings that Aslan is coming back. They're impatient and ask why he hasn't shown up yet. "Maybe we're the ones who need to bring ourselves to him," Lucy wisely replies.

CASPIAN does a first-rate job of bringing to life the many brutal battles from Lewis' novel and, despite its PG rating, the movie racks up an impressively high body count (although actual bloodletting is kept to a minimum). In WARDROBE, victims were often paralyzed by magic; here, they're more likely to be impaled with arrows or struck down with blades. It's a much more violent adventure but, as a certain Narnian once said, things never happen the same way twice.